CCST is excited to seek scientists and engineers in training for the CCST ClimateScience Translators Showcase, held in conjunction with the Global Climate Action Summit hosted by Governor Jerry Brown in San Francisco in September 2018.

The invited presenters will partake in an evening of science policy engagement with distinguished global guests attending the Science to Action gala event of the Global Climate Action Summit. These “Climate Science Translators” will get to practice their budding craft for communicating science in a conversational, open-networking setting during the gala. The goal of this experience is to improve a trainee’s skill and savvy in conveying the relevance of their research to an audience of senior researchers, leaders, and policymakers — offering impartial, nonpartisan science advice while proudly representing their home campus.

Applicants must satisfy the following criteria:

1. You must be a current Master’s or PhD student or postdoc at a public or private university located in California. Graduate students and postdocs at NASA and U.S. Department of Energy laboratories in California are also eligible. Early-career faculty (within three years of first hire) from California Community Colleges are also invited to apply.

2. You must be available to travel to and be present in San Francisco on Tuesday, September 11th, 2018. Chosen presenters will receive reimbursement for mileage or airfare and ground transportation, with option for lodging. You must also commit to three separate training webinars ahead of the event (tentatively scheduled August 10th, 17th, and 24th at noon PDT).

A critical component of the application process is a 60-second audition video. In it, applicants must explain their research and how it helps inform potential policy solutions for climate change adaptation and planning, either here in California or at the national or global scale. This is the applicant’s chance to demonstrate their ability to engagingly and concisely translate technical information, tailoring their message and delivery to a senior policymaking audience. Selection will take place in late July, and candidates will be chosen based on the quality of their audition, and to represent a diversity of research topics, personal experiences, and home institutions.

“This is a fantastic opportunity for any research trainee interested in a policy engagement experience, especially those not yet qualified to apply for our CCST Science & Technology Policy Fellowship program,” says Sarah Brady PhD, CCST Interim Deputy Director. “CCST is honored to be a participating partner in Governor Brown’s historic Global Climate Action Summit, and we look forward to showcasing the brilliant talent and innovation from California’s leading institutions on this important world stage.”

CCST debuted its “Science Translators Showcase” event series in February 2018 at the California State Capitol during CCST Science & Technology Week — where 15 graduate students and postdocs from California campuses networked with legislators and staffers for an afternoon session, discussing topics spanning biomedicine, wildfires, earthquake hazards, and surface physics.

CCST hosted the inaugural California Science Translators Showcase on Tuesday, February 20, 2018 in the Eureka Room in the California State Captiol. Organized with the support of Assemblymember Jose Medina (D-Riverside), the program recruited and trained 15 graduate students and postdocs from UC, Cal State, Stanford, and Caltech campus to communicate their research to state policymakers and staff. As part of the CCST Science Translators Showcase, presenters had to come up with slogans and taglines explaining their thesis research. These bookmarks were handed out during the Showcase event as keepsakes and reminders of timely, policy relevant research being conducted at California’s higher education institutions.

About the California Council on Science and Technology

The California Council on Science and Technology is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization established via the California State Legislature in 1988. CCST engages leading experts in science and technology to advise state policymakers ― ensuring that California policy is strengthened and informed by scientific knowledge, research, and innovation. Find CCST on Facebook at facebook.com/ccstorg, on Twitter @CCSTorg, and on LinkedIn. Discover how CCST makes California’s policies stronger with science at www.ccst.us, and join us in celebrating #CCST30th.

About the Global Climate Action Summit

The 2018 Global Climate Action Summit, hosted in San Francisco September 12 to 14, will bring together state and local governments, business, and citizens from around the world to showcase climate action taking place, thereby demonstrating how the tide has turned in the race against climate change and inspiring deeper national commitments in support of the Paris Agreement.

To keep warming well below 2 degrees C, and ideally 1.5 degrees C — temperatures that could lead to catastrophic consequences — worldwide emissions must start trending down by 2020.

The Summit will showcase climate action around the world, along with bold new commitments, to give world leaders the confidence they can go even further by 2020.

A series of reports are set to be launched over the coming months and at the Summit underlining the contribution of states and regions, cities, businesses, investors and civil society, also known as “non-party stakeholders” to national and international efforts to address climate change.

Many partners are supporting the Summit and the mobilization in advance including Climate Group; the Global Covenant of Mayors; the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group; BSR; We Mean Business; Ceres, CDP, formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project; the World Wide Fund for Nature; and Mission 2020